Cryoablation system more effective than drugs for treating heart rhythm disorders
POSTED March 16, 2010 - 15:28 | POSTED BY neha gupta
Last edited by Kangna Agarwal on March 16, 2010 - 16:09
The system, which kills the malfunctioning tissues by freezing them, is found to be 10 times better than the drugs.
The system has been already approved in Europe and Australia.
245 patients studied
The study, funded by Jude Medical Inc (STJ.N), looked at 245 patients of Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation, a disorder marked by abnormal heart rhythms.
The patients were divided in two groups, the ones who received the cryoablation treatment or the MDT.N system, and the others who followed the conventional drug course.
Comparison was made between both the groups by the researchers.
Findings of the study
The study has revealed that the cryoablation procedure was far more successful in treating the disorder than the drugs.
Recurrence of the disease was witnessed in only one percent of the cryoablation patients, whereas 11 percent patients in the drug group were hospitalized for the same disorder again.
"This is the best data we have at this point in support of cryoablation (to treat atrial fibrillation)," said Dr. Douglas Packer of Mayo Clinic, the lead investigator of the study.
The procedure also succeeded in eliminating the disease completely in a year’s time, as targeted by the researchers.
The findings were presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting in Atlanta.
Minor side effects
Only three percent patients in the cryoablation group faced a serious side effect, pulmonary vein narrowing, whereas 11 percent faced some damage to the diaphragm nerve, claimed the researchers, stating that none of the side effects were serious.
97 percent of cryoablation takers did not suffer any stroke, attack or death as compared to the 92 percent of the other group who were safe.
Working of the procedure
The procedure, known as Cryoablation or Catheter Ablation, involves injecting a thin tube into the blood vessel through an opening in the neck or upper leg.
The tube is threaded in order to make it reach the cardiovascular area, where it destroys the corrupt tissue by freezing it.
The procedure is being used to treat arrhythmia's like atrial flutters since years, though it was used for atrial fibrillation for the first time.
The most common heart disorder, atrial fibrillation affects 2.2 million Americans and 10 million people worldwide. It is a serious disease whose treatment has been made easy with the introduction of cryoablation, said the researchers.
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